He next sailed to Tunis ; there, however, the .Dey not only refused his demands, but would not permit him to take in fresh water. " Here," said lie, " are our castles of Golletto and Porto Ferino ; do your worst." Blake, on hearing this, was high ly incensed ; and, according to his custom on such occasions, began to curl his whiskers. Having .shortly consulted with his officers, he entered the Bay of , Porto Ferino with his large ships, bore up 'within musket shot of the castle, from which 60 guns played on him at once, and opened such a tremendous fire, that, in two hours, he dis mounted their artillery, and rendered the works quite defenceless. He also give orders to attack and destroy all their shipping in the road, which service was gallantly performed, with the loss of above 70 men killed and wounded. From Tunis he went to Tripoli, where the government readily con sented to liberate the English captives, and to con .clude a peace. And returning thence to Tunis, he obliged the Tunisians to implore his mercy, and to beg of him a peace, which he granted, on terms equally mortifying to them, and advantageous for England. He also paid a visit to Malta, and com pelled the knights to restore the effects which their privateers had taken from the English. By these daring enterprises, and successful exploits, he made his own name formidable, and so elevated the cha racter of his country, that most of the Italian states sent solemn embassies to England to compliment his master, ,the protector.
Blake was in the Road of Cadiz, living on the best terms with the Spaniards, when intelligence came of the capture of Jamaica, and consequently of a Spanish war. In compliance with instructions from the protector, he watched the arrival of a Plate fleet that was expected, and succeeded in in tercepting it. After cruizing for a considerable time on that station, he heard that another Plate fleet had put into the Bay of Santa Cruz, in the island of Tcneriffe. He immediately set sail with 25 ships, and came to his point of destination on the 20th of April 1657. The Spanish ships, amounting to 16, of which 6 galleons were laden, were placed in a most secure and formidable position. They were not only capable of making an obstinate de fence by their own strength, but also protected by a castle, which stood at the mouth of the haven, and was well supplied with heavy ordnance, and by seven forts situated round the bay, and joined by a line of communication, which was manned with mus keteers. The Spanish governor thought himself quite safe ; and was so confident of the excellence and sufficiency of his dispositions, that when the master of a Dutch ship, knowing the certainty, and dreading the consequences of an attack, asked leave to depart, he answered, angrily, " Get yoit gone, if you will, and let Blake come, if he dares." Blake called a council of war, in which it was deter mined to attempt the destruction of the enemy's ships, as it was impossible to bring with off. The attempt was made, and attended with perfect suc cess. An attack was directed at the same time against the forts and the fleet ; and the enterprise was so skilfully and gallantly conducted, that, in a few hours, the forts were abandoned by the Spa niards, and their fleet boarded and carried by the English, who burnt every ship to ashes, except two that were sunk. Had the wind which carried him into the bay continued to blow much longer in the same direction, Blake could scarcely have escaped ; but fortunately it changed, and brought him safely out, leaving the Spaniards in astonishment, that he should, in such perilous circumstances, have dared to attack them, and that he should have succeeded so completely in accomplishing his object. Lord Cla
rendon tells us, that every body who knew the place, wondered that any sober man, whatever might be his courage, could think of such an under taking ; that the English could hardly persuade themselves to believe what they had done ; and that the Spaniards took comfort, front the idea that they were devils and not men who had destroyed them in such a manner. At the same time, this event so subdued the spirits of the Spaniards, that after wards, when opposed to the English, they had no dependence either upon numbers, or valour, or for tifications. We must not omit to mention a circum stance that occurred on this 'occasion, which was indicative of the disinterested zeal of Blake for the naval service, as the enterprise out of which it sprung was honourable to his ability and courage. His brother, Captain Benjamin Blake, for whom he entertained the warmest affection, had been guilty of some misconduct in the action. This being obser ved by the admiral, he sacrificed Isis private feelings to his sense of public duty, by removing his bro ther front the ship, and giving the command of it to another officer.
After this, Blake cruized for a short time off Ca diz ; but finding his ships getting foul, and his own health gradually wearing away by a complica tion of dropsy and scurvy, he set sail for England. This distemper grew upon him during his passage home, and cut him off before he reached his native soil, on which lie had shown a strong desire to draw his last breath. He died as hid ship entered Ply mouth Sound, on the 17th of August 1657, being about 59 years of age. His body, after lying in state for several days in Greenwich Hospital, was conveyed to Westminster Abbey, and interred in a vault, built on purpose, in the chapel of Henry VII. The funeral was magnificent. It was attended not only by his friends and relations, but by the Protec tor's privy council, the commissioners of the admi ralty and navy, the lord mayor and aldermen of Lon don, the field officers of the army, and a vast num ber more of quality and distinction. But the loss was public. The country at large felt, that they had been deprived of a hero and a friend ; and expressed, in the language of universal regret and sorrow, the high sense which they entertained of his services as an admiral, of his worth as a patriot, and of his vir tues as a man. Blake, in truth, was a rare charac ter. No Englishman can read the history of his life without admiration and delight. We know of one only, in the naval records of Britain, whom we can willingly place before him,—we mean the late Lord Nelson ; between whom and Blake, indeed, there are many points of resemblance, which the reader may easily trace. It may even be safely asserted, that the past and present maritime superiority of this empire, took its origin from the skill and brav of Blake, who skewed his country what they were capable of ac complishing at sea, and taught all Europe, and more than Europe, to tremble at the British flag ; and infused a spirit of greatness into the navy, which it never possessed before, and which has animated and upheld it ever since. See Campbell's Lives of the British Admirals. Clarendon's History of the Rebellion. Whitaker's Memorials, &c. (r)